Local Train Diary: Rishi’s Untold Stories – Madness

Memu was about to reach Anand. Thus, I got up and approached the door. ‘Kya karte the saajna tum humse door rehke,’ someone’s phone rang. I looked back to find out whose phone it is. These kinds of songs bring blood out of ears. That guy was sitting on the last seat of the coach. I gave him some weird looks to pick up the call but he picked up the call after 40 seconds and in those 40 seconds, I heard that tone twice with some more words after that line. Listening to that ring tone was extreme level of ordeal. Factory workers and daily wagers who commuted in the same train had play list of such songs in their made in China phones.

Factory workers and daily wagers thinks that they are cool when they play such songs loudly in their made in China speaker phones. The speakers of such phones are so powerful that only one phone is enough in the whole seating coach to throw a party and dance on such songs. As that phone rang, a man sitting near the door got up and started dancing. He was drunk and had lost his mind. He danced even after the song was over. He danced for a while and then he approached people for money. The way he was walking, it was clear that he was drunk. No one in the coach gave him the money and when he reached at the other end of the coach, he started dancing again that too without any music.

“How cruel life is?” was my thought when I was seeing greenery outside the train standing at the door. “Rishi, platform has arrived, get down from the train fast.” Nikesh shouted and I got a push from behind. I got down and started finding that person (who pushed me) in anger but who to blame? A lot of people got down from the train after me. Nikesh also got down with them.

“What happened? Why you stood still when the train stopped?” Nikesh asked while coming out of the train.

“I was thinking about that man.” I replied while approaching the stairs.

“You know how their life is! Come on, climb fast or you will get late.” Nikesh climbed faster and disappeared.

I checked the time in my phone and realised that I have only ten minutes to reach office on time. I discarded those thoughts from my mind and rushed towards the office.

In the evening, I started thinking about that man again while coming back home. I was thinking about the reason behind his madness. While thinking about it, I realised all of us (people of the world) are mad behind one or the other thing. Only difference is, we act normally and he was acting abnormally. After thinking for a while, I came to a conclusion that life and local train stops for no one and everyone is too busy to give damn about one’s madness.

Read about Rishi’s fascinating journey in Life in Local Train. It is available on amazon kindle. Click here to grab your copy.